Emotions
by BrightStar
Summary: Seiko makes new friends, Tristan gets dissed on and a trip to the X-Mansion is planned. Chapter 2 up. OC POV
1. Introductions

Here it is, my first attempt at a fanfic.  Standard disclaimers: I don't own anybody in this except for the original characters, mainly Seiko.  Marvel owns the rest, so don't sue!  Please!   Please read and review, I'd really appreciate it.  Thanks and enjoy.

*Star*

Part One

I can hear the whispering, and I can almost make out what they are saying.  This little voice in my head keeps telling me that my suspicions are correct; it's telling me that they are talking about me.  Of course they are.  I'm the new girl; it's my job to be gossip fodder.  As I walk by the small groups of students scattered through the hallway, I try to smile and ignore their stares.  

As I walk by, I notice what a motley crew one lot is.  Towards the right stands a tall, lanky, grayish guy, and if it weren't for his prep school uniform, he'd look like he just stepped out of the barrio. A short, but spunky-looking, Chinese girl and a fresh off the farm country mouse, flank him.  Next to country mouse has to be one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen.  She has chocolate skin and ebony hair wearing a blasé expression that just screams 'breeding.'  Next to the brown-skinned beauty is an average-looking black guy.  Nothing about this boy is noticeable; he's clean cut, and normal looking.  

To round out this rag tag bunch is the tallest of the gang.  A rather scruffy-looking boy, no, man with bandages around his face that made me think that he must feel incredibly cold.  While his body held no emotion, his eyes seemed to contain all of them.  It seems to me that he tries to hide his emotion behind his bandages, but for someone like me…I can read him like an open book if I so chose.  As I pass this bunch on my way to the headmasters' office, I look him in the eyes and smile, and I can tell he knows that I can read him, and he steps back in surprise.  

Maybe this year won't be so bad after all.

As I walk in the direction of the headmasters' office I think about my moving across the country, from Oregon to Massachusetts, in the middle of my senior year of high school to create a new life for my self and try to move on from the past. Yay. Boarding school, just what I wanted for Christmas…too bad I couldn't accompany my parents on their tour of Ireland, that would have been much more fun.  I'm going to miss them immensely.  Although, why in the name of heaven they stuck me here in Snow Valley MA, of all the places they could have left me, I'll never know.  Well, enough of my brooding, I have to make a good first impression on my new headmasters.

As I knock on the heavy oak door, I get the feeling of someone watching me, but through my own eyes, as if there were someone in my head.  Like they could hear my thoughts and see my fears.  As fast as I could I slammed up the walls I had been taught to make, to block whoever it was out of my mind.  I was afraid of what they might find in my head, my thoughts are very private, and I value that more than anything. While I erected my walls, I thought to myself how silly I was, there was nobody here that could see into my head, I shook it off as paranoia and anticipation of meeting the headmasters.  After I knocked I heard a confident, "Enter," and pushed opened the heavy door.

As I enter, I am struck by the elegance that this room emits.  I look around the room and take in the obvious fact that somebody took a lot of time and effort to design this room by hand.  I could still feel their presence in the decoration.  As I took in the room, I notice that the room was decorated by the woman sitting elegantly at the large solid oak desk.  Her posture and grace seemed to scream 'uptight,' but at a deeper look at her told me she just wanted to hid behind her icy exterior and that if anybody chose to look deep enough they would find the real woman behind the ice.

I put on my happy façade and stepped fully into the office to introduce myself.  

"Good morning, my name is Seiko Moore.  I'm the transfer student from Oregon," I confidently stated.  

As the blond beauty behind the desk was about to answer, the large well muscled Irishman standing next to her spoke up, "Good morning to you, lass.  Was yuir trip eventful?  Did ye have any trouble finding the school?" 

"No sir," I replied, "the trip from the airport was lovely, the country side in this state is magnificent.  Thank you for sending the car to get me, but you didn't have to, I could have managed."  

"Nonsense child, we make it a rule to always ensure the arrival of our new students," the platinum 'queen' interjected.  As soon as the thought entered my mind, I knew that 'queen' was the right term for this majestic woman.  Suddenly, it occurred to me that I could not for the life of me remember their names.  

I started to panic, but before I could even voice my regret the brawny Irishman spoke up, "Forgive us lass, for our lack of manners.  My name is Sean Cassidy, and this is Emma Frost."  

That was when it all of a sudden clicked.  This was the "ice queen" Emma Frost, CEO and founder of Frost Enterprises.  No wonder I had that strange feeling of recognition.  All those hours of sitting in my father's office waiting for him to get out of meetings, I used to pick up the business magazines and Frost Enterprises were frequently the topic of how to succeed in business.  For a mere moment, I stood there in awe before composing myself.  

"When do classes start?" I asked? 

Ms. Frost answered, "The term doesn't start until Monday, so you have the next three days to acclimate yourself before the term starts.  We felt that giving you a few days to get situated in your room and get to know a few of the students would be best." 

She handed me a packet of papers, "Yuir class schedule, room assignment, and a list of the extracurricular activities we offer are in that packet.  Yuir parents requested that ye have a single room.  Fortunately, we had one available in the girl's dorm.  Ye will be on the 3rd floor," Mr. Cassidy explained, "I'll help ye up to yuir room with yuir luggage if ye like, lass."  

"I would greatly appreciate that Mr. Cassidy, thank you," I said.  

In my head I was dreading the climb up the three flights of stairs with all of my things, when suddenly Ms. Frost said, "Don't worry dear, there are service elevators in all of the dorms for hauling luggage and furnishing to the rooms."  

I must have outwardly grimaced, because there is no way, short of reading my mind, that she could have known that if I hadn't shown some outward emotion.

When I reached the 3rd floor with Mr. Cassidy, I was again amazed by the extravagance of the buildings in which I would be spending the next few months.  The ornately decorated hallway looked like something out of the past.  An eclectic, yet beautiful mix of the 18th and 19th centuries with some contemporary pieces mixed in.  

Mr. Cassidy led me to my room, 307, and opened the door to a spacious room with two large windows opening to the back of the property, and an adjoining private bathroom.  My room was already decorated in muted shades of blue, my favorite color.  The room was mostly furnished with a four-poster bed, a large oak computer desk, dressing table, armoire, walk in closet, and full-length mirror.  To say the least I was flabbergasted at the lengths the headmasters went to make me feel comfortable.  

Mr. Cassidy woke me from my reverie by asking, "Do ye like it then?"  

"It's lovely, I can't believe all the trouble you went to, thank you." I quietly replied.  

"Don't thank me, lass," he said, "Thank Ms. Frost, it was her idea to decorate yuir room so that ye wouldn't be so homesick."

 I had been looking out one of my windows at the magnificent grounds surrounding the main building when I turned to him and replied, "Well, thank you all the same.  I think I'll unpack now."  

"Would ye like some help unpacking, lass?  I could send one of the other students to help ye," he said.  

"No, thank you," I quietly replied, "I'd actually like sometime to myself, to think."  

"Suit yuirself lass, but, don't forget that supper is at six, and there will be a small welcoming celebration after supper in the rec room for anybody who would like to come," he said. 

I thanked Mr. Cassidy again, and shut the door.  For once, I was grateful that I could pick up on his emotions, so that I knew he was just trying to be comforting and not smothering.  As I thought about his kindness towards me, I started to unpack my clothes into the master size closet and armoire.  His kindness reminded me of Kenny and how much I missed my family, and made me think of what brought me to the Massachusetts Academy campus of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

It was three months ago, and Kenny and I were walking home from school, as usual. Kenny and I lived five blocks away from the high school so neither of us saw the point of driving to school everyday. 

"Man Seiko, could Mr. Browning be anymore boring?!?" Kenny exclaimed. 

Kenny Lang was my best friend.  We've been together since we were seven, and since then had been inseparable. 

Kenny and I had always been able to pick up on other people's emotions.  Only Kenny seemed to be able to 'project' his emotions better than I could.  If Kenny was happy, everybody was happy.  Luckily, Kenny was better at hiding his bad moods.  It seemed that I could only pick up on everybody else's emotions.  And I mean everybody.  I couldn't shut it off.  

Nobody's emotions were sacred when I was around, it started to drive me insane, I couldn't stand to be around people, no matter whom.  And the only people who came to see me after my self inflicted seclusion, felt only pity and worry for me, which was almost as bad as feeling the entire gamet of emotions.  I stayed like this for almost three months, having my mother home school me, until Kenny showed up one day and saved me.  He taught me how to control it. 

Kenny told me, "Imagine it Seiko, look at all these emotions flooding your head, turn that flood, into a stream of water coming out of a faucet.  Now imagine yourself turning the faucet slowly off." 

It took me a few tries, but I finally got my head back on straight.  I was forever in his debt, but he was my best friend, he did it because he loved me.  That day was the first day in three months that I could feel my emotions.  I was finally able to return to school again and get on with my life, a normal life, with friends, sports and school.  Until the accident that forever changed my life.

I make it sound like Magneto attacked the school or something, but it wasn't any costumed super-villain, it was a villain of the everyday sort. It wasn't anybody with super powers; it was your normal everyday, run-of-the-mill drunk driver.  

Kenny was driving me home from my softball game in another town, like usual.  We weren't driving all that fast, because it was foggy out, but Kenny wasn't paying as close attention as usual.  We were too happy, my team had just won the league championships and we were singing at the top of our lungs.  All of a sudden, the car in the oncoming lane swerved into our lane.  Kenny swerved his car towards the embankment, and that was probably what saved me, because the car ran straight into Kenny's side of the car.  We slid across the pavement for about ten feet and then started to roll.  We stopped in the ditch.  

I could feel Kenny dying, I could feel his fear, and I could feel him still worrying about me and the love he was projecting towards me.  He died before the ambulance arrived.  

I had a concussion, sprained ankle and broken wrist.  The drunk driver had a few minor contusions and scratches.  Part of my soul died that day with Kenny.

After Kenny died, I didn't want to go back to school, unfortunately my parents thought differently.  They took me out of my seclusion, and sent me to the top priced therapists in the state.  I came to terms with Kenny's death a few weeks later.  Then my parents decided to take a extended vacation in Ireland and land me here in Snow Valley, Massachusetts. 

I was brought out of my thoughts by the realization that it was almost six and I needed to get ready for dinner.  Hopefully it would go well, and maybe afterwards, I could convince myself to go to the welcoming shindig…maybe…

*******************************

"Green, Carl," Mr. Cassidy listed.  

"Well he seems like a nice enough boy, very intelligent, we might want to see about putting him in some of the more advanced classes," Ms. Frost replied.  

"Kennedy, Ann," he said.

"She's a nice enough girl, a bit shy, but more than ready to come out of her shell," she answered.  

"Moore, Seiko," he stated. 

Emma paused for a moment, "I'm not quite sure what to make of Ms. Moore.  Her grades are outstanding and she is very polite, but when I did the surface scan of her thoughts while she was outside the office, she put up some pretty strong psychic shields for someone who shouldn't know how to do that.  She seemed to be hiding something, but as soon as she entered the office, she let her shields down, and I couldn't find anything outright that we should be worried about.  However, I think that she might suspect something, because of our quick answers to her unspoken questions."  

"Well Emma," Sean replied, "what can ye expect from the girl?  All of a sudden we are both answering her questions about us, without her having to say a single word.  It's no wonder she's a bit skittish.  What did Charles have to say about her when he recommended we admit her into the school?"  

"Well, apparently, Seiko is an Alpha-level mutant; she could reach at least level 5, or beyond. She is well aware that she is a mutant, but does not truly comprehend the power she possesses.  She has a highly developed empathic gift for someone who has never been formally trained.  Also, she had a somewhat tragic experience that occurred recently, her best friend was killed in a car accident. She felt him die." Emma replied a bit sadly.  

"So how do we proceed?" Sean asked after a prolonged silence.  

"Well," Emma replied, "I think that after she is settled in, we should approach her on the subject.  Let her know what we know and see where it goes from there."  

"By the way, Emma," Sean asked, "How does Charles know the Moore's?" 

"Oh, that," Emma started, "Charles and Seiko's grandfather, Jacob, went to school together and became close friends.  Charles has been a part of that family's life ever since.  He was the first person Jacob called when Jacob's daughter, Akiko, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  Needless to say, when Charles heard about the accident with Seiko's friend, he immediately became interested, and offered Seiko's parents a vacation and a place to leave Seiko and ensure that she is safe and cared for while they are gone," she finished.  

_Amazing to have gone through so much, and have little for so little time_, Sean thought to himself. 

"Well, supper is soon, we should head down to the dinning hall to greet the new students and get them acclimated," Sean said.  

"Agreed," Emma replied, "I'll be down shortly, you go ahead, I just have one more thing to finish up."  _What is Seiko hiding, perhaps she is just scared, but whatever it is, I will help her through it, she is strong, and will be triumphant!_ Emma thought, then put her paper work away 

*************************************

Part Two

It's almost six, and I'm just about ready to go down and face all of those people, but first I take a quick inventory of myself.  To make sure I look presentable.  I smooth out the creases in my well-fitted jeans, and my favorite FOX RACING long sleeve.  Happily we don't have to wear the uniforms until Monday.  

I'm only about 5'4" and about 108 lbs, so sometimes it's hard to find clothes that fit just right.  My long dark hair, and what my dad's side of the family calls 'exotic' facial feature and skin tone set off my generally blue ensemble.  

My dad's from the east coast, New Hampshire to be precise, and my mom is a second generation Japanese-American.  My grandfather came over in the 30's to go to school in the states and if it hadn't been for 'Uncle' Charles he might have ended up in the internment camps during the war.  Uncle Charles and grandfather met at school and became instant friends, and through his influence saved my grandfather from the camps.  Uncle Charles even introduced my grandfather to my grandmother.  Ever since I can remember, Uncle Charles has been a part of my family; only he never really seems to age.  It was Uncle Charles' idea that I come up here, to Massachusetts, and finish my high school education at Uncle Charles' school for "gifted youngsters."

I look at my choice of outfits and then it occurs to me, I really need to do some shopping, my wardrobe has way too much blue in it.  I slip on my chunky docs and take a final look at my appearance.  My hair's hanging down my back, slightly curled, and everything is in place. _Looking good girl_, I think to myself, and I start my trek to the dinning hall.

End Part Two

*************************************

"HEY JONO!  Shake a leg already dude, we're gonna miss dinner!"  Jubilee screams at a closed door.  

Bam! Bam! Bam! "Come _on_ Jono!  Get your British Booty out here!" Jubilee called again.  

All right gel, I'm coming.  Although I don't understand why Cassidy and Frost want me there, I don't eat.   Jono replied telepathically.  

"Ya know as well as I do dude, tonight's a "get to meet the new students dinner," Jubilee replied, "we get to play nice with the 'normal' kids."  

Jubilee thought about it for a moment and said, "Hey!  Maybe that new girl you were eyeing earlier will be there!  Maybe we'll find out who she…" Jubilee was abruptly interrupted by an impatient Jono dragging her towards the main building. 

 "Whoa there, Jono," yelled a startled Jubilee, "what ignited your turbo engines?"  

Jono chose not to answer telepathically, but instead replied with a pleading look and finally said, Please, Jubes, can we just hurry up?   

"Oh, I get it now, your boxers are in a bunch over that new girl, aren't they?" Jubilee teased.  "So Sparky wants to meet the new girl….well, lets bookit, I wanna meet her too!  Besides, I think I spotted a hottie in the group of newbies earlier," she said.  

With that said, Jono and Jubilee took off at a record pace from the boy's dorms to the dining hall in the main building.

**************************************

Part Three

I arrived at the main building just as two of the students from this morning were arriving.  It was the spunky-looking Chinese girl and the scruffy-looking bandaged tall man.  He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed me, causing the girl to collide with him.  

"Jeez Jono, give a girl a little warning next time dude, wouldya?" she said.  

He just stood there while I walked up to them.  The girl looked at the man, Jono, for a moment, almost like they were have a non-verbal conversation, and then turned and looked at me.  I decided to be brave and introduce myself.

"Hi, I'm Seiko. I'm new here, would you two mind pointing me in the right direction of the dining hall?" I asked.

Jono just stood there staring at me, but the girl spoke up, "Hey Seiko, I'm Jubilation Lee, Jubilee for short, and this is Jonothan Starsmore, but we all call him Jono. I'm the resident motor mouth firecracker.  Whereareyoufrom?whatclassesareyoutaking?what-roomareyouin?Howoldareyou?Iloveyouroutfit,doyou,like,race?"  She said.  

She seemed very excited.  I liked her immediately, she thought like me. So I decided to answer her in our native-tongue.

"Oregon,history,math,mythology,physics,gym,andmusic,307,18inFebruary,thanksand-yes,Ido."  I replied and smiled.

Jubilee looked a little taken aback because I had replied at the same speed she had asked her question, which approached super speed.  The look on her face was so funny that I burst into laughter.  

With her jaw hanging open and her bright blue eyes wide, she suddenly exclaimed, "I like her Jono, can I keep her?!?" 

I laughed a little when Jono replied, Sure, gel, just make sure to take good care of her and make sure she gets plenty of food, water and exercise. 

I was a bit startled when I didn't see his lips move, but could clearly hear his "voice" inside of my head.  I shook off the feeling and decided that if he could speak inside my head, it was cool, that meant he was like Uncle Charles, and that made me like him all the more.

I smiled at them and raised one of my eyebrows.  Suddenly, I looped my arm through Jubilee's and replied, "Sure you can keep me Jubilee, but if we don't hurry, we're going to be late for dinner, and I'm starving!  Let's go!"

Jubilee and I ran off with Jono in tow.  We burst into the dining hall laughing merrily and realized that we weren't late after all.  I was looking around for a place to sit when Jubilee said, "Hey Seiko, ya wanna eat with us?"

"I'd love to Jubilee, thanks," I answered. And we went off towards what I could only guess was their usual table.

We settled into a table with the rest of the group from this morning, except for the blond guy who looked like a poster child for Rich Snob Monthly.  I sat myself down strategically in-between Jubilee and Jono.  Which earned me a nasty glare from the fair-haired farm girl.  The glare was full of such animosity towards me that I did not understand so I did what any self-respecting-teenage-girl-who-doesn't-take-crap-from-anybody-and-happens-to-be-able-to-pick-up-on-others-feelings does, I went with my gut.

"What's your problem Country Mouse?" I asked, she only gaped at me, so I continued, 

"_Rat_ got your tongue?"  

That earned me a harsh glare from the blond boy and a glower from the farm girl, while Jubilee started laughing uncontrollably. I smiled defiantly at the both of them and half turned to Jubilee and asked in a whisper, "What was it? What did I say?"  

"Never mind that now, I think the rest of the group likes you almost as much as Jono and I do." Jubilee replied.  

I started to ask her what she meant, when I realized that the rest of the group, minus the two blonds, were trying very hard to hide their amusement at my comments.  

Hmmmm, I wonder what I said.  Did my 'gut' instincts get me in trouble again?  Abruptly the room went quiet.  I realized that the headmasters had finally arrived.  

Quickly, I nudged Jubilee and asked her in a strained whisper, "What did I say?"

"I'll explain after dinner, although, how you knew about Rat-boy, *giggle*…..  Shhhh, I'll let you in on the joke after dinner, when Paige and Rat-b…I mean Tristan go off to suck face," was her reply.  

So I shut my mouth and turned to the front of the hall where Mr. Cassidy was droning on about the orientation process and the after-dinner get together and the school grounds.  

Meanwhile, I was thinking about what Jubilee had said about Country Mo…I mean Paige and Tristan, how could I have known?  I'd have to wait until after dinner for an explanation.  It must be juicy.  I can't wait to find out.

End Part Three

*AN*:  Thousands of people die every year from accidents involving drunk drivers.  Please, don't let your friends drink and drive.


	2. Making friends

Here's the next installment.  I hope you like it.  Let me know if you have any suggestions, comments or criticism. 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my original ideas, so don't sue

*************************

Three Months Later 

I'm sitting in my room, listening to _Lifehouse_, entirely too grateful that Valentine's Day is finally over and that they finally took down all of the entirely too mooky decorations.  I happily think back to what has happened in the last three months.  

Ms. Frost approached me about my "powers," and explained exactly what type of school this was; a school for mutants.  I knew that I was a mutant, but Ms. Frost, Emma, explained just how powerful she believed I could be.  She said that I had the potential to be one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet.  I was a bit surprised by this considering I didn't realize my powers were telepathic, I believed them to be empathic, but Emma explained that with training, I could develop them into much more.  We immediately worked into my schedule time with her to train.

Emma told me about one of her former students that had empathic abilities and the extent of his powers.  She said I had much more potential than to just control people by their emotions the way Manuel De La Rocha, Empath, did.  She believed that while my primary power was empathetic, my latent gifts were much, much more.  Emma explained that with a lot of training and work I could likely be one of the five most powerful telepaths on the planet. She gave me the impression that she was a little, I won't say scared, because Emma isn't the type of woman who scares easily, but, that she was a little wary of teaching me too much, too soon.

Along with the development of my mutant abilities I worked everyday with Mr. Cassidy, Sean, on self-defense, and more offensive fighting styles, like boxing and street fighting.  Sean said he didn't want me to be caught unprepared.  Whatever that meant.  So with my school work, working out with Sean and training with Emma, I have very little social time. But whatever I do have, you can be sure, Lee is taking me somewhere with her.  

I decided I didn't like the way Jubilee sounded, it made her seem like a three-year-old, and she had seen far too much to be treated like that, so I took to calling her Lee.  The first time I called her that, she looked at me and beamed one of her megawatt smiles and told me she like it.

I've made more new friends than I could have possibly hoped for; Lee, Jono, Angelo, Everett, Monet, and surprisingly Paige, after we got the whole Tristan thing worked out.  

Jubilee told me about the part Tristan's grandfather played in the death of her parents and how Tristan had blackmailed Paige into dating him.  After about a week of having Paige avoid me, I cornered her on her morning run.  We spent the better part of an hour talking about our families and friends.  I told her about my parents, Uncle Charles and Kenny, and she told me about her family in Kentucky and her on-again-off-again feelings for Jono.  I told her not to worry about Jono and me because I just saw him as a very good friend, and that I wasn't currently looking for more from anybody.  She seemed to relax after that.

She found my connection to Uncle Charles very interesting and told me about her brother Sam who lives in Westchester with the rest of the X-Men.  When she called them that, I laughed.  I had read about most of these people in my uncle's letters but hearing about them from her just made me laugh.  

After our early morning conversation I confided in her my ability to feel others emotions and I told her I was sorry about the week before in the dining hall.  She said it was okay and that she had already forgotten about it.  I could have left it there, but felt the need to interfere again.  I told her about the emotions I was feeling from Tristan, the hurt after he found out his grandfather's role in Lee's parent's death, and the need for revenge.  I told her of the lack of emotion toward her I was receiving from him and warned her about a strange emotion I couldn't quite put my finger on. 

A couple days later I heard from Lee that Paige had found Tristan cheating on her with one of the "normal" girls.  The girl was one of the very wealthy that attended the school; Tristan seemed to be more interested in what her family could do for him, then the girl herself.  But good did come out of this, Paige dumped him and moved on.  After she dumped him, Lee, Monet, Paige and I went on a shopping spree courtesy of Monet and Sean's platinum cards. 

The shopping trip served as a bonding experience for all of us.  Clothes can bring anybody closer!  After that we spent a lot of our off time together.  Paige and I studied together, Lee and I talked about music, movies and such, and Monet was always around when I needed help with anything.  I even helped Monet with some of her physics problems, though I think it was just a ruse to get me to actually DO my physics.  

We were quickly approaching Spring Break and since my parents had come to see me in late January for parents weekend, I thought I should pay Uncle Charles a visit is Westchester.  Everybody else was going home or on some big expensive trip.  Lee and Angelo were the only ones without family to go see, and Jono didn't want to go see his family so I decided to I'd ask if they wanted to come too.  I knew Lee would, she'd want to see her precious 'Wolvie'.  I better go call Uncle Charles before I make any more plans.  

I shut off my stereo and hop off my bed, since it's long distance I'll have to go downstairs and use the house line, hopefully none of the unintelligent spoiled brats I go to school with are using the phone.  I hope Uncle Charles says yes, well, duh, of course he'll say yes!  I can't wait for finals to be over.


End file.
